Trump suggested that North Korean TV anchor should get a job in US: reportAT&T announces it has completed acquisition of Time WarnerClassified Israeli report raises questions about Trump-Kim summit: reportMORE said on Friday that he wants “his people” to listen to him like North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s people listen to him.
“He’s the head of a country. And I mean, he is the strong head,” Trump said of Kim in remarks from the White House north lawn to “Fox & Friends.”
“Don’t let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same,” Trump said.
It wasn’t clear what Trump meant by “his people” and “my people,” phrasings that could be interpreted to mean all North Koreans and Americans but that could also mean those people reporting directly to the two leaders.
Steve Doocy, the Fox reporter who conducted the interview, did not ask a direct follow-up question to clarify.
Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn after the Fox interview, Trump was pressed on what he meant when he said that he wanted his “people” so listen to him like the North Koreans listen to Kim.
“I was kidding,” he said. “You don’t understand sarcasm.”
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for clarification.
The president praised Kim during the Fox interview, a continuation of compliments he has offered the dictator since their summit in Singapore.
He said that he had “hit it off” with the North Korean premier.
“We get along very well, we had good chemistry,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments came three days after his meeting with Kim – the first between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader in history – in which the two signed a brief document committing the North to denuclearization in exchange for unspecified security guarantees from the U.S.
Trump has also come under fire from some lawmakers for his friendly comments towards Kim, whose government has a notorious human rights record and a history of cruel treatment of prisoners, including Americans.
